The Nation

Narcotics sales in the United States have skyrocketed at a rate of $10 billion annually since 1978, grossing $110 billion for traffickers last year, a House committee reported. The upsurge brought the number of U.S. heroin addicts to more than 500,000 for the first time since 1973 and increased overdose deaths by 93% from 1979 through 1983, the Select Committee on Narcotics said in a report.